Anubis Nights (17 page)

“You’re just saying that. Eat your food before it gets cold.”

“It’s pretty good chow,” Brand said.

“I don’t even remember what anything tasted like. I don’t remember smells either. Or textures.” She frowned and looked down at her translucent hands. “Being dead sucks.”

“Being alive ain’t a picnic either. I stubbed my damn toe when I got up this morning and the damn thing still hurts.”

“At least you can feel things.”

Brand set down his fork. “Sometimes it’s best not to feel.” He tossed his napkin on the table then dug in his pocket for some cash, which he tucked under his plate.

“You’re not going to finish that?”

He shook his head. “Not hungry.”

The waiter brought a tray to another table, but when he saw Brand leaving, he rushed over and touched Brand’s arm. “Excuse me, Mr. Easton, but Miss Scarlet is in car four.”

Brand nodded. “Thanks. I left you something extra under the plate.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Brand left the dining car with Esther in tow.

“Are you going to go wake that woman up?” Esther asked.

“No,” Brand said. “You’re going to step through the wall to see if she’s all right.”

“Well, I guess it gives me something to do.”

“I figured you’d see it my way.”

They moved through the cars until they reached number four.

Priscilla had the entire car to herself. A narrow passageway ran down the side, and the rest of the car was her compartment. Esther passed through the wall.

Next thing Brand knew, Esther flew backward out of the wall, through the side of the train.

“Esther?” he called.

“Help!” Esther said.

Brand stared out the window and saw Esther floating outside the train.

“What are you doing, Esther?”

Brand could barely hear her reply over the sound of the wheels charging over the train tracks.

“Getting strangled,” she said, kicking her legs and trying to claw at her neck with her hands.

Priscilla exited her compartment and stood behind Brand. She wore a nightgown, and her hair was tucked under a nightcap. “Edward, no!”

Brand turned and saw that Priscilla held the pocket watch.

“May I?” Brand asked.

She handed the watch to him. Now Brand could see that Edward had Esther by the throat and was trying to send her away from the train, but she wouldn’t go any farther. She was fifteen feet from the nearest typewriter key, which Brand had in his pocket.

“Edward!” Brand shouted. “Let her go! She’s my friend!”

“Do as he says, Edward!” Priscilla said.

“I saw her earlier, but that was a common area. Now she’s invaded my space,” Edward said. “I’m getting rid of her!”

“Esther, just pop back inside.”

Esther disappeared and Edward shot farther from the train. Esther reappeared beside Brand.

“Good idea,” she said. “I was too flustered to act.”

“He can’t hurt you, right?” Brand asked.

Priscilla looked around. “Hurt me?” she asked.

“Not you,” Brand said to Priscilla. “My friend Esther is here. She’s a ghost too.”

“Really?” Priscilla asked. “Why can’t I see her when I can see Edward?”

“You have an emotional bond with Edward. You probably can’t see any other ghosts.”

“None here to see,” Esther said.

Edward phased through the compartment wall and glared at Esther. “This is my train!”

“Says you,” Esther said.

“Edward, you need to calm down. Esther is my friend.”

“She’s dressed strangely.”

“She died back in the twenties,” Brand said.

“That dress and haircut wasn’t in style back in the twenties. She looks like a harlot.”

Esther raised a fist. “You stupid ragamuffin, you should just beat it. You don’t know anything from nothing.”

“Both of you, cool it,” Brand said, holding out his arms as if he could stop them.

“This is my train,” Edward said again. “She’s not welcome!”

“Edward,” Priscilla said. “Please stop. Brand’s friend is welcome to be here. Give her a chance.”

“I don’t need a chance from some sappy palooka,” Esther said.

“Be nice, Esther,” Brand said.

“He thinks I’m a pro skirt.”

“He said you look like a hooker, not that you are one. They don’t dress like you these days.”

“They didn’t back then either,” Edward said.

“Put a sock in it, Edward,” Brand said.

“Or what?”

“You don’t want to push me,” Brand said. “I have a good friend who can get rid of ghosts.”

“Nonsense!”

Priscilla grabbed Brand’s arm. “Please don’t do anything to Edward.”

“Get him to play nice,” Brand said.

Priscilla reached for Edward. Her eyes pleaded with him. “Edward, please!”

“Fine,” Edward said. He pointed at Esther. “But she can’t come into our compartment again.”

“Like I’d want to come into your stupid compartment,” Esther said.

“Esther, that’s enough,” Brand said.

She rolled her eyes.

“Sorry about the problem,” Brand said to Priscilla. “When I didn’t see you at dinner or breakfast, I was a bit worried.”

“I wasn’t hungry,” Priscilla said. “It’s all right. I appreciate your concern.”

“Well, we’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” Brand said. He handed the pocket watch back to her. “Come on, Esther.”

Brand exited the car and headed back toward his compartment.

Esther caught up to him. “That ghost is an asshole,” she said.

“You got that right.”

“That old bat is a weird one too.”

“She’s actually pretty nice,” Brand said.

“Her compartment is a mess. She’s got old, dusty books scattered everywhere and a blanket covering the back half of the place. I didn’t get to take it all in because that jerk attacked me, but she’s a slob.”

“She’s old and rich,” Brand said. “She’s allowed to be eccentric.”

“If you say so.”

RAYNA NOBLE

Lincoln Parker looked tired when Rayna approached his desk at the Pinkerton office. She sat down, held her purse in her lap, and met his gaze. The office was busy this morning, but she didn’t pay attention to the chatter of typewriters or the various discussions at other desks.

“Did you learn anything?” Rayna asked, hopeful. She hadn’t slept much the night before. She missed having Jonathan beside her. Even if they were just sleeping, hearing him breathe was soothing. Spending the night alone just made her worry about him. If he died back then, he’d have died thousands of years before she missed him. That made the loneliness even more unbearable.

Lincoln ran his hands down his face, yawned, and rubbed at his eyes. He blinked a few times. His tie was mostly undone, and his suit was so wrinkled, he’d probably slept in it. “I have a lead,” he said.

“You look like hell.”

“Thanks for noticing. I could say the same about you, but my mother raised me to be polite.”

“Whatever. So tell me about the lead.”

“I talked to a buddy of mine who’s a Freemason. He told me about a number of occult groups who meet at various places in the city, but he said there wasn’t a chapter of The Golden Dawn here.”

“He was familiar with them, though?”

“Yes. Evidently, The Golden Dawn was a splinter group from the Freemasons. He rattled off the names of the guys who started it, but I didn’t bother to write them down.”

“Damn. I was hoping there would be a chapter here.”

“Well, that’s where my lead comes in handy. My buddy told me about an offshoot of The Golden Dawn that does meet here. They’re called Alpha et Omega, and they meet at the Thoth Hermes Temple. I have the address, but they don’t have another meeting until October first.”

“That’s this coming Friday,” Rayna said.

Lincoln nodded. “Indeed it is.”

“I guess that means you’re my date Friday night.”

“Getting paid to go out with you,” he said with a grin. “Lincoln Parker, gigolo for hire.”

Rayna frowned. Jonathan was supposed to be her date. “Not that kind of date,” she said.

“You’re one strange bird.”

“I’m in a relationship, so don’t get any ideas.”

“So where’s your boyfriend, and why hasn’t he put a ring on that finger yet?”

“He’s on a trip, but he’ll be back soon. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Touchy, touchy.”

“No touching. Just pick me up at my hotel.”

“The meeting is an exclusive membership-only kind of thing.”

“Your friend can certainly get us invitations.”

“What if they don’t admit women?”

Rayna shook her head. “It’s an occult group, Lincoln. They’re bound to have sex rituals, so of course they admit women. Get us those invitations.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“No. You get them. Failure is not an option.”

“An invitation may require an introduction, and that will undoubtedly cost a pretty penny.”

“Keep the penny on the homely side,” Rayna said. “I’m on a budget.”

He nodded.

Rayna pushed herself to her feet and stared at Lincoln. “Go home and get some sleep. I’ll see you Friday.”

“I may need you on Wednesday to pay for the introduction.”

She hesitated. She could easily afford whatever price his friend would name, and she was certain it was the right group. After all, Winslow had gone after the Emerald Tablets of Thoth, and the meeting was at the Thoth Hermes Temple. Still, she didn’t want to overpay. “We can meet your friend on Wednesday to discuss price. Tell him to be reasonable, though.”

“All my friends are reasonable,” Lincoln said.

CHAPTER TWELVE

JONATHAN SHADE

Back in the residence, Kelly and I finally got some alone time with Winslow. We sent the servants away, which confused them a bit. Never having had servants, we were used to doing everything for ourselves, but more important, we didn’t want anyone else around to overhear our conversation even if they could understand only one side of it.

We sat outside under the colonnade. The afternoon sun blazed in the sky, but we enjoyed the shade in the courtyard. We had cups of beer and a few snacks the servants had brought before we sent them away.

“So,” Winslow said. “Time travel. It’s so H. G. Wells. How did you get here?”

“I think we should ask the questions,” Kelly said. “To be perfectly honest, I’m thinking we should just kill you and be done with it.”

“Not very hospitable,” Winslow said.

I took a drink of beer. It was definitely an acquired taste, but it was starting to grow on me. “You escaped from the Underworld,” I said.

He shrugged. “It seemed like the thing to do.”

“You divided yourself into three aspects.”

He smiled at me. “Somebody’s been doing their homework.”

“Kelly thinks it’s a good idea to just kill you, and I’m inclined to agree with her,” I said. “This is your chance to talk me out of it.”

“You’re going to do whatever it is you’re going to do, Jonathan. If you choose to kill me, I won’t try to fight back.” He spread his arms wide. “Grab a dagger and run me through.”

“So you want us to kill you so you can join your next aspect?”

“Physical spirit,” he said. “You have no idea how long it took to get that spell to work.”

“Close to ninety years, I’d say.”

“All right, perhaps you do have an idea how long it took. So as I’m a physical spirit held together by my own consciousness, you can’t really kill me. You can disperse me, but that’s about it.”

“And you don’t care one way or the other?” I asked.

Winslow took a drink of beer and set the cup down on the small table. “Let me tell you what I think,” he said. “I think you’re a good man, and I think you’re making Kelly into a good woman. I think if you knew the score, you wouldn’t rush to disperse me. Instead, you’d want to know more about what I did and why I did it.”

“What makes you think I’m a good man?” I asked.

“Because somebody sent you after me, and they wouldn’t trust just anyone with such a task. Of course, they also wouldn’t tell you the whole truth before sending you either.”

“Maybe there wasn’t time for a full explanation.”

He laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

“He jokes a lot,” Kelly said, “but not about this.”

He nodded. “So Chronos told you he could keep the portal open only for a limited time.”

I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t have to. He could see it on my face.

He shook his head. “And you believed him? The man controls time, Jonathan. He can literally freeze time, roll it backward or forward to his heart’s content.”

“You came back here for the Emerald Tablets of Thoth,” I said trying to change the subject.

“We’ll get to that,” Winslow said. “First, though, you need to understand that if he told you there were timelines that would erase you from existence, he was simply lying. There’s nothing I can do to change the timeline. I might be able to change who does something, but certain events are set in time and space, so they’re impossible to change. Maybe someone other than John Wilkes Booth could kill President Lincoln, but Lincoln will still be killed at the Ford Theater. That’s a set point in time. And don’t get me started on layered timelines. That can be an even bigger mess. Magic really mucks up the system.”

“And yet you’re trying to change things for yourself.”

“Of course. I don’t fancy being dead and spending eternity in the Underworld.”

“So you want to be your own father?” Kelly asked. “That’s just gross.”

He looked at her, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“We were told you were planning to become your own father.”

“Don’t they teach science in your time? My parents provided the chromosomes required to make me. If I sleep with my mother—something I would never do—but if I did, even if I were to succeed in impregnating her, she wouldn’t give birth to me. She’d have a completely different baby.”

“You know about chromosomes?” I asked. “So you kept up with what happened in science after you died?”

“They were talking about chromosomes when I was a child, Jonathan. In the early 1900s, they determined that the Y chromosome determined the sex of a child. I may not be well informed about the science of your time, but I certainly know the science of my own time. It would be impossible for me to be my own father. And while my childhood wasn’t a picnic in the park, it wasn’t so bad that I’d want to change who my father was. I have good memories too.”